Chapter 5: Ruined Joy

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Prom. The crowning jewel of any high schooler's student career. Even junior prom is a major moment for many teens, for valid reasons. It was certainly a major moment for me, in many ways. My first date, and with someone I truly cared for deeply, came that night, after over a month of preparation and painstaking patience.

It was also the night I was kidnapped.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves here. Before any of that occurred, I can recall standing by my front door, watching Tyler walk through the partially unhinged gate in our white picket fence and up the crooked cement walkway to the porch. That familiar wild hair of his was combed and geled neatly against his head, and his plain, black tuxedo fit his body snugly, his shoes shined. He looked handsome. Devilishly so.

He stopped in front of me and a smile lit up his face as his eyes grazed my curvy form. It must've seemed I was wearing an overabundance of coral blush, considering the amount of red in my cheeks as he did so. I'm sure it contrasted so starkly with my pale blue dress, which fit tightly to my upper body and flowed down my legs like a babbling brook, fully equipped with sparkling diamond-like pieces along the sleeves and neckline. I remember reaching out and taking his hand, waving goodbye to my parents, who wished us well, and walking alongside him to his faded Chevy pickup. He helped me inside, like a true gentleman, then got in himself.

This warm night in late spring was the perfect time to roll the windows down, and feel the wind rushing past our ears. I didn't even care that the hair my mom spent over an hour doing up was falling to pieces as I put my face nearly outside of the window and closed my eyes.

His gaze. He watched me with that smile set on his lips. Did I make him happy? I hope so. In that moment, I truly believed we were both the happiest we had ever been or ever would be. My heart was swelling with joy. My soul felt cleansed.

The ride was soon over. We had arrived at the school, and we could hear the booming music and riotous crowd of young people from outside in the parking lot. He intertwined his fingers with mine. We entered the decorated school building underneath the large banner displaying the letters P-R-O-M smushed between two disco skaters in the iconic disco dance pose. I glanced at Tyler and we both almost started laughing. A disco theme? How stereotypical.

The inside of the belly of the beast was disguised as a disco club of the 80s, with strobe lights shining out from the dimly lit gym, along with epochal tunes of the era blaring in everyone's ears. We decided to join the fray of variously shaded dresses and black suits. There were couples galore, dancing, some even singing out of key to the dj's playlist. Along the edges of the large room were, of course, the outcasts, uninvited, and unasked, clustered in small groups of similar kinds. It was here we began our search of the area for our friends, who, to our knowledge, had already arrived.

After looking for quite a lengthy amount of time, we decided they were M.I.A., and moved over to the snack tables set up near the dj's stage, our stomachs growling due to the energy we expended looking for Nat and Erik. We chatted happily about all kinds of things while sipping some punch in prefilled plastic-pretending-to-be-glass cups given to us by the waiter, who was decked out in 80s garb. Ty complimented my dress, and I complimented his slicked back look.

We went for a dance. His hands on my waist made me feel safe and secure. My arms
around his neck ensured we were pressed together. We swayed gently back and forth, with the occasional spin or dip. He was enchanting. At first, nerves were eating at me, but, after a few songs, I was comfortable laughing as he stepped on my toes when trying to tango, and even letting him rest his forehead on mine.

Our fifth dance is when things start to get blurry.

My head was spinning. I looked around me, trying to take in the details of the night, but everything began to meld together into a swirling storm of color and sound, my eyes unable to properly observe the room any longer. I mumbled my concerns into thin air. All of a sudden, Ty was gone. Had I lost him? I couldn't see him. I made my way to the nearest wall and leaned against it, huffing. My heart was pounding in my ears, beating rapidly as I began to panic. Had we come here together or had I come alone? Was all this just a dream? My legs felt wobbly, my arms like limp noodles. I could barely keep my eyes open.

The last thing I remember from that night is collapsing to the floor.

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